The Supreme Court yesterday granted permission to former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to travel overseas till January 15. The order was given when the Fundamental Rights petitions which were filed seeking an order to conduct an investigation against the people responsible for bankrupting the country and the public, were taken up before the Supreme Court.
The petitions were taken up before the Supreme Court Five-Judge-Bench comprising Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Justices Buwaneka Aluwihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Vijith Malalgoda and L.T.B Dehideniya.
President’s Counsel Gamini Marapana appearing for Basil Rajapaksa sought permission from Court for his client to go to the United States for medical reasons.
Considering the facts, the Supreme Court Bench granted permission to Rajapaksa to travel overseas.
The petitions were filed by the Open University of Sri Lanka Professor Mahim Mendis, former Chamber of Commerce Chairman Chandra Jayaratne, swimming champion Julian Bolling, Jehan Canegaratne and Transparency International Sri Lanka.The Petitions have cited the Attorney General on behalf of the President, former Minister of Finance and former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Minister of Finance and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Governors of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Dr. W.D Lakshman, former Ministers of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, Ali Sabry, Former Secretary to the Finance Ministry S.R. Artigala, President of the Bar Association of Ceylon Saliya Peiris, PC and 39 others as the respondents.
The petitioners allege that the country is currently in a state of bankruptcy and the people are in dire straits due to the unwise economic policies and inefficient administration pursued by the respondents.
The petitions allege that this has made it difficult for the people to access essential services such as fuel, electricity, food and medicine.
The petitions state that due to this situation, Sri Lanka has been listed as a country that cannot repay foreign loans and this has brought more disrepute to the country internationally.
The petitions point out that the tax concessions granted unnecessarily by the respondents in 2019 were one of the reasons for this economic crisis.
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